Category Archives: Entertainment

Entertainment, Soccer, sports

Favorite Video Game of 2009

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Introduction
I didn’t get to play too many video games this year, unfortunately. The first few months of ’09 saw very little spare time for me. In fact, time spent gaming has gradually decreased since my freshman year of high school. At that time, I got a job that occupied a sizable amount of time on weekends; in addition, the amount of schoolwork I had shot up big time. As the years passed and school got harder and I got more jobs, free time to game approached nil. That leaves me where I’m at now. I get a chance to play maybe once or twice a month.

Favorite Game
FIFA Soccer 10 – This is the shit! It’s so frustrating to lose (and I do often), but winning is just an amazing feeling because it’s so rare. I’ve found that my favorite team to play as is my ancestral club S.S.C Napoli. Before Napoli, I was a die-hard Bayern Munchen fan (maybe out of respect to the song “Munich” by Editors), but I sort of lost my rhythm playing as them. With Napoli, I got Fabio Quagliarella, who has been absolutely money. He scored three goals for me in one game on normal difficulty. To put something into perspective, it’s rare that I score one goal per game. Obviously, things ended up working out quite well not just because of Fabio, but I got to give him a lot of credit.

Art, Entertainment, Femmes, Lists, Music

MY Top Ten Concerts of 2009!

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For specific information like dates, go to Glen’s post, as I feel it is unnecessary to rewrite the same information. Also, in some of these shows I am not naming every performer for the evening, but rather those I found to be memorable. Note: I attended twenty solid concerts total this year, so this list is exactly half of them.

1) Black Lips w/ Mean Creek at the Middle East- A+: Best concert I’ve ever seen simply because they are my favorite band and I knew all of the songs. But, beyond that, the show was constantly exciting and I really appreciated the chat with Cole as Glen noted. Mean Creek were a chill band with a great anti-capitalist message.

2) King Khan & The Shrines w/ Mark Sultan at the Paradise Rock Club- A+: What else can you say about King and gang that hasn’t already been said?! The show is a spectacle from start to finish. Pure energy, excitement, and really happiness. If the Black Lips were not my favorite band, without a doubt, I would say the Shrines were the most entertaining performers I have ever seen. Like Glen, I’m positive I would appreciate Marky Sultan’s performance infinitely more, if I saw him now, but even without being familiar to his music, I still appreciated it; something extremely rare for me. Supreme Genius indeed!

3) Jay Reatard w/ Box Elders, Nobunny, and Hunx and His Punx at Harpers Fery- A+: Fun, Fun, Fun till Harpers Ferry security took Nobunny pyro techniques away! Then more fun with Jay! I second Glen, as I seem to do a lot in these lists (great minds think alike!) best opening experience ever! I heard one of my new favorites for the first time: Box Elders. Instantly I fell in love with their catchy, pop songs, another rare feature. Hunx was queer as fuck, but in a great way! They really got the crowd moving, perhaps moving away for some (and oddly moving closer for others haha); once again rare for an opening band. This continued with Nobunny, who also shared tremendous showmanship and over all joy in their craft. Of course Jay belted out his hits and it was great. The moshing and crowd interaction made it a memorable concert for sure.

4) King Khan & BBQ Show at the Middle East- A+: Supreme Genius continues! Well, I was waddlin around right into the snow with some zombies, which transformed into a fish fight. Soon I said I’ll never belong here and so I docked at number eight. Unfortunately, the hunnies treat me like dog because I’m too much in love with them, so I just sat and watched them shake real low. I’d much rather they hold me tight, but I guess not tonight. I guess I’ll be a lonely boy for one more night.

5) Pixies w/ Jay Reatard at Wang Theater- A+: One of my favorite bands playing one of my favorite albums and my second favorite artist opening for them with amazing seats, what else can I ask for?!

6) Sonic Youth w/ The Feelies at Wilbur Theatre- A+
7) No Age w/ Lemonade at Wellsley College- A+
8) Animal Collective at the House of Blues- A
9) Head Automatica at the Great Scott- A
10) Arctic Monkeys at the House of Blues- B+/A-

Chris

Entertainment, Lists, Music

Most Disappointing LPs of 2009

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No order.

1. The Thermals – Now We Can See – Before listening to this, I was exposed to just a few Thermals songs. That said, I’ve held this band in high regard. This LP was rather disappointing mainly because it was filled to the brim with pop-punk songs that weren’t eccentric enough for me.

2. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest – For me, a lot of what made Grizzly Bear “epic” was nowhere to be found on here. Okay, there are a few songs that I really dig from this LP, but in general I’d say Grizzly Bear changed their direction to a more prim and proper baroque-pop style with less experimental flair than ever before.

3. Lovely Feathers – Fantasy of the Lot – Hind Hind Legs (2006) was an amazing disc. So amazing that I don’t think Lovely Feathers could ever out do it, even if they tried really really hard. This LP has some really strong points, but it kind of has a weird pace that’s all over the place. I just thought Hind had an immaculate flow. This really doesn’t.

4. Flaming Lips – Embryonic – Considering I’ve only listened to the “hits” from these guys, I sort of had a gut feeling that this album would be filled with catchy songs! Was I ever more disappointed? Save maybe one or two songs, this wasn’t memorable for me at all. It was mainly sound.

5. Japandroids – Post-Nothing – This thing is shockingly similar to Now We Can See. I’d say it’s straight up noise rock with a strong pop-punk undertone. Based on the initial reception of this album, I was excited! Then I actually listened to it and was mildly disappointed.

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

Classic CD Reviews: BLACK LIPS

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LP Name: Black Lips!
Release: 2003
Label: Bomp!

1. “Throw It Away” – A+
2. “Freakout” – A+
3. “Ain’t No Deal” – A
4. “Stone Cold” – B
5. “I’ve Got a Knife” – B+
6. “Down and Out” – B+
7.  “Steps” – B-
8. “Fad” – A+
9. “Sweet Kin” – B+
10. “Crazy Girl” – A
11. “Everybody Loves A Cocksucker” – A
12. “Cant Get Me Down” – B-
13. “You’re Dumb” – A-

Fun Facts:
– Recorded 100% in Georgia from 2000 to 2002!
– Cover art by Bradford Cox
– Guitar/noise specialist Ben Ederbaugh died before this was released.

Comments: This is truly a special record that will be forever admired by Black Lips purists. During the band’s beginning years, they relied almost exclusively on a lo fi-punk sound heavily influenced by early garage and country rock outfits. In many ways, Black Lips were much different in the old days. Their music was more cut-to-the-chase like-it-or-you-don’t. Their last two records (’07 and ’09) were put out by Vice, a much larger/notorious corporation than say In the Red or Bomp!. Arguably, their sound has become increasingly fine-tuned and more ready for the masses than ever before. Getting back to this record, more than few songs aren’t garage poppers. You might think “damn, this is draggy OR when does this get good?’ Black Lips don’t care what you think, though. They just shat tracks out of their musical ass (seemingly) and put them on this record. Whatever the excretion system did to them worked, with very few exceptions.

Grade: A- (90)

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LP Title: We Did Not Know The Forest Spirit Made The Flowers Grow
Release: 2004
Label: Bomp!

1. “MIA” – A+
2. “Time of the Scab” – A+
3. “Dawn of the Age of Tomorrow” – B+
4. “Nothing At All” – A+
5. “100 New Fears” – A-
6. “Stranger” – A+
7. “Juvenile” – A+
8. “Notown Blues” – A+
9. “Ghetto Cross” – A+
10. “Jumpin Around” – B
11. “Super X-13” – B+
12. “Hope Jazz” – B+

Comments: Great to watch a band  grow, isn’t it? This time around Black Lips were actually able to accomplish more in terms of  catchy songwriting while maintaining that lo-fi fuzzy sound that got everybody going on their debut. Even something as completely out of left field (at the time) as the organ-infested “100 New Fears” ends up fitting in well and introduces us to the genius of Joe Bradley. “Stranger” is probably the most crazy yet instantly fun-loving track on here. “Juvenile” continues that vibe. What I really love a great deal about this album, too, is how well the guitar and lead guitars complement each other. For songs like “Jumpin” and “Super,” I wish they were cleaned up only a teeny weeny bit. They have (had?) so much potential.

Grade: A- (93)

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LP Title: Let It Bloom
Release: 2005
Label: In The Red Records

1. “Sea of Blasphemy” – A
2. “Can’t Dance” – A+
3. “Boomerang” – A+
4. “Hippie Hippie Hoorah” – A+
5. “Not A Problem” – A+
6. “Gung Ho” – B+
7. “Everybody Doing It” – A
8. “Feeling Gay” – B
9. “Boone” – A
10. “Gentle Violence” – A
11. “She’s Gone” – A-
12. “Fairy Stories” – A+
13. “Dirty Hands” – A+
14. “Workin” – B+
15. “Punk Slime” – A
16. “Empassant” – A-

Comments: It’s fun to listen to this record because it’s coated with tunes that are excessively lo-fi. Keep in mind how I said that some songs on We Did Not needed some cleaning up to reach their potential. Same deal here pretty much! In some cases, it’s more sad than others. Soon we find out that they do get purified albeit in a live setting two years later. The most pure song on here is  “Dirty Hands,” perhaps by a long-shot.

Grade: A- (93)

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LP Title: Good Bad Not Evil
Release: 2007
Label: Vice Records

1. “I Saw A Ghost (Lean)” – A+
2. “O Katrina!” – A+
3. “Veni Vidi Vici” – A
4. “It Feels Alright” – A+
5. “Navajo” – A+
6. “Lock and Key” – A+
7. “How Do You Tell” – A
8. “Bad Kids” – A+
9. “Step Right Up” – A
10. “Cold Hands” – A+
11. “Off The Block” – A+
12. “Slime and Oxygen” – B+
13. “Transcendental Light” – A–

Comments:The first really really really really awesome through-and-through Black Lips LP.

Grade: A (95)

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LP Title: Los Valienteles Del Mundo Nuevo
Release: 2007
Label: Vice Records

1. “M.I.A.” – A+
2. “Boomerang” – A+
3. “Sea of Blasphemy” – A+
4. “Stranger” – A+
5. “Not A Problem” – A+
6. “Hippie, Hippie, Hoorah” – A+
7. “Boone” – A+
8. “Everybody’s Doing It” – A+
9. “Fairy Stories” – A+
10. “Dirty Hands” – A+
11. “Buried Alive” – A+
12. “Juvenile” – A+

Comments: Yup, that’s right. This is my probably my favorite record of all-time. Flaws? Try pointing them out to me. Every song on here is amazing.

Grade: A+ (100)